


Three Men and a Katie

by SleepySsnail



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Accidental Bonding, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Baby Hunk (Voltron), Baby Keith (Voltron), Baby Lance (Voltron), Baby Pidge | Katie Holt, Diapers, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Mommy Issues, Multi, New York City, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Police, Polyamory, Rating: PG13, References to Drugs, Three Men and a Baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2019-09-15 00:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16923549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepySsnail/pseuds/SleepySsnail
Summary: Shiro, Matt, and Adam lived the high life. Parties, stable careers, made them eligible bachelors for any woman (or man) they took a fancy to without needing to commit. Then one day, a girl walks into their life who they can't live without.Also known as, Matt, Shiro, and Adam are bachelors living in a lavish apartment in NYC, Matt goes out of the country to film a movie and his illegitimate daughter is abandoned at their doorstep by her mother. Cue Shiro and Adam tiring to take care of baby Pidge until Matt gets back, and…shenanigans ensue.





	1. The Package

“’Dear Matt, this is our baby Katie. I’m sorry to do this, I don’t have anywhere else to turn. I hope you both can forgive me someday ~ Allura.’ Who’s Allura?”

Shiro shook his head in disbelief as he stared at the baby girl lying in the basket in the hallway. Snapping back to attention, Shiro looked at Adam and grabbed the note away from him before reading it with his own eyes and asked, “You really don't know anything about this?”

“I knew it, I knew it!” Adam exclaimed pointing a finger in Shiro’s face, “He was bound to slip up like this sometime and now we have to deal with his mess!”

Gesturing to the baby Shiro sighed in disbelief, “Matt said there’d be a package delivered today and to just put it to the side and not to worry about it.”

“A BABY?!” Adam yelled, his face turning red.

"I'd say he takes he procreation business a little lightly," Shiro muttered, scanning the note again.

“Allura,” Adam hissed, pushing his glasses up, “…there’s no way to track who this is, Matt’s done it with so many women-”

A loud shriek from the basket prompted both men to jump in surprise. Looking back and forth at each other, Shiro finally sighed and picked up the basket, bringing it inside the apartment while holding it at arm’s length as Adam followed him still ranting.

“What’re we gonna do? I have deadlines for this next comic strip and I’m going to murder Matt and-”

“Shut up!” Shiro hissed, making a face as Katie screamed again and flailed her arms.

“She needs to be picked up,” Adam stated.

Shaking his head, Shiro scoffed, “I’m not picking her up, you pick her up.”

“You found it!”

Sighing, Shiro flexed his prosthetic’s fingers before sliding them around Katie’s middle and using his other to support her head. Pausing in her scream, Katie looked up at Shiro with what he could only describe as confusion considering her baby features. There was a short pause of silence before Katie inhaled and let loose another bout of wails.

Running his hands through his hair, Adam demanded, “What do we do?”

“I dunno, feed it!” Shiro yelled, placing Katie back in her blankets, “What do babies eat?”

“I dunno, it can’t be very good, I can’t remember!”

Groaning, Shiro stomped past his friend and grabbed his jacket, pulling it on only to receive a shout from Adam and another scream from the baby.

“Where’re you going?!”

Walking to the door as he patted his pockets for his wallet, Shiro yelled, “I’m going to the supermarket for some baby food! We can't feed her birthday cake and grilled cheese! Watch her!”

As the door shut, Adam glanced down at Katie who was still screaming and shook his head, “Your daddy’s a dead man.”

* * *

 

## 18 hours earlier

_“Happy birthday dear Shiro, happy birthday to you!”_

Laughing as the caterer wheeled out a cake made to look like a building with a man hanging on to the edge, Shiro looked around the room full of people invited to the celebration. Veronica smiled next to him while Matt and Adam smiled smugly at their friend and roommate.

Clearing his throat, Shiro gestured to the cake and around him as he said, “I’d, um, I’d like to thank you all for coming, and I’d like to thank Adam, Matt, and Veronica for embarrassing me like this. Um…thanks for coming!”

Laughing at the speech, the crowd dispersed to mingle and continue to dance. Grabbing his hand, Veronica smiled softly and kissed Shiro’s cheek gently before making her way to the dance floor.

“So many women,” Matt commented, leaning on Adam’s shoulder as he watched a man and woman dance too close to each other.

“So little time,” Adam and Shiro finished, their own eyes trailing across other occupants of the room.

Laughing, Matt separated himself from his friends and made his way through the large apartment, conversing with several of his friends with benefits before planting himself in front of the jukebox and selecting a song. Nodding his head along to the tune that was almost drowned out by the pounding music all around him, Matt heard his name being called.

“Matt! Long time no see!”

Shaking his head at the man approaching him, Matt pushed past towards a try of liquor saying, “Rolo, I’ve told you, I don’t do commercials anymore. I’m in a big movie, you’ll have to take your business somewhere else.”

“No, I actually-”

Waving his hand as if to dismiss his former director, Matt grabbed the hands of a girl and exclaimed, “Florona! How’ve you been? You look different.”

“I’m dressed!” Florona giggled, letting Matt draw her hand to his lips for a kiss.

“That must be it!”

Releasing the woman, Matt ran a hand through his hair and felt someone grab his shoulder. Turning to see Rolo, Matt shook his head again and began to protest only to be interrupted by the lanky man.

“Matt, I’m not here to ask you to do a commercial, I need a favor.”

Pausing, Matt nodded and turned to face Rolo head on as he inquired, “What kind of favor?”

Leading Matt through the apartment by the shoulder, Rolo explained, “I have a package being delivered tomorrow, but I won’t be in town to pick it up, I’m going to be in LA for a shoot.”

Stopping, Matt felt a tinge of bitterness rise in him as he asked, “LA? Who’re you filming in LA?”

Shrugging, Rolo stated, “Bii Boh Bi.”

“You-you’re shooting with Bii?”

Rolo snorted and threw an arm around Matt’s shoulders, “I thought you didn’t do commercials anymore. Anyway, I need someone to hold onto my package for me until I can get it, do you mind if I have it delivered here? Tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Matt said, forcing a smile, “No problem.”

Waving to Rolo, Matt wandered back into the main room where he noticed Adam duck into his room with a girl.

Clearing a few papers and some of his markers off the foot of his bed, Adam motioned for the girl to sit and asked, “You ever been in an artist’s room? It’s a bit messy, but it’s home.”

Nodding, the girl smiled and picked up one of the comic strip books Adam had written and flipped through it saying, “I can’t believe you draw Lion Cats. This is…amazing.”

Sitting in his chair, Adam frowned at the sadness in her tone and asked, “Is it about David again?”

“Yeah.”

“The good-looking one?” Adam asked, sitting up straighter as an image of a man with chocolate brown curls and just as beautiful eyes flashed through his mind.

“Incredibly good looking!” The girl exclaimed, looking wistfully back down at the book, “He used to read Lion Cats to me over breakfast.”

Exhaling deeply, Adam smiled as an idea struck him, “Nothing better to cheer you up, than dancing with an artist.”

The girl’s lip wobbled as she choked back tears saying, “David is an incredible dancer! He studied ballet in France for three years!”

“Th-three years?” Adam asked weakly, trying to imagine the man. Swallowing, Adam said slowly, “I think you two are gonna get back together.”

“Would it be okay if I invited him to the party?”

“Um, sure,” Adam said, standing up and moving to the door, “You make the call, I’ll be out here.”

Sighing in defeat, Adam rejoined the mass of people dancing and drinking, his eyes locking onto Shiro and Veronica slow dancing together in a corner. A small smile crept onto Adam’s face at seeing his best friend happy with the woman before ducking into the kitchen.

As guests left and the clean up began, Shiro hummed to himself and smiled at Veronica and commented, “This was nice.”

Raising an eyebrow at the comment, Veronica stated, “You hate parties. I’m surprised you didn’t jump out a window to get out of this.”

“Stay,” Shiro stated, putting his arms around Veronica’s neck and offering a smile.

Glancing around, Veronica smiled, “You don’t need me to stay over tonight. You’ll be fine, my platonic partner.”

“You sure?” Shiro asked, motioning to the bottles of liquor on the counter, “We can talk about the stupid sexual expectations of our generation.”

Standing on her toes to press a kiss on Shiro’s scar, Veronica whispered, “I have work in the morning. Spend some time with Matt before he leaves.”

Nodding, Shiro hugged Veronica gently before wandering into the billiard room and grabbed a glass of whiskey before pulling up a stool to the pool table. Sipping on the drink, Shiro hummed to himself as Adam pulled up another stool next to him.

“Rough night? Shiro asked, offering his drink to the other who quickly took a swig.

Making a face, Adam muttered, “You could say that. Veronica go home?”

Laughing nervously, Shiro leaned on the table and stated, “Looks like we’re gonna be alone with ourselves tonight.”

“Hey guys, what do you recommend for wooing a lovely lady this late?” Matt asked, walking past and looking in the liquor cabinet.

Tuning out as Adam quickly answered, Shiro yawned and rested his chin on his hand.

“Woah, woah, what’s got you two so glum?” Matt asked, cradling a bottle of wine in his arm.

“Veronica left,” Adam stated.

Rolling his eyes, Shiro sat up and teased, “Adam saved another dying relationship.”

Snorting, Matt leaned on the pool table and snickered, “You’re never gonna get a woman if you keep becoming her big brother when you get into the bedroom.”

“I know, I know, I just feel bad,” Adam said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his nose bridge.

Pondering for a moment, Matt put down the bottle he was holding and said, “Hey I have an idea. How about I get rid of Florona–stop laughing I’m serious! I escort her out, we play a few rounds, and drink the night away.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Shiro commented, smiling at the thought of Matt refusing a woman.

“It’s my last night here, then I’m gonna be in Turkey for ten weeks filming. We should have some bro time!” Matt insisted, picking up the wine bottle again and offering a smile.

Pointing at the hallway that led to Matt’s room, Adam stated, “You go in there and have a good time, and we’ll see you in ten weeks.”

“Yeah,” Shiro echoed, “Enjoy yourself, don’t worry about us.”

Flashing a smile, Matt dashed to where Florona was waiting for him.

* * *

“Shiro? Have you seen Matt?”

“He left this morning, Florona,” Shiro called, completing his set of pushups.

Hearing the woman exit the apartment, Shiro smirked as the phone rang and the answering machine picked up. taking a breath and stretching out on the floor, Shiro listened as Matt’s voice came through the machine.

“Hey, it’s Matt! I forgot to tell you, but I’m having a package delivered today, it’s not gonna be a big deal, just set it aside and don’t worry about it. Anyway, I’ll see if I can bring you back a drumstick or something.”

* * *

“…ADAM!”

Closing the front door, Shiro turned to look at his roommate’s door, still sweaty from his run. Waiting a moment, Shiro opened the door again and looked down at the very obvious baby basket containing said baby sitting in front of the door.

Closing it again, Shiro turned and yelled, “ADAM!”

“What?” Adam asked, yawning as he slid his glasses on his face and tightened his robe.

Smiling at what had to be a joke, Shiro pointed to the door, “Look out in the hallway.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

Shrugging, Adam opened the door and laughed at the little human in the basket, “It’s a baby.”

“What’s it doing there?” Shiro asked teasingly, playing along with the joke.

Staring at the kid for a moment, Adam whispered, “It’s sleeping.”

“Why’s it sleeping?”

“Oh! Shiro! There’s a little note,” bending down to pick up the piece of paper, Adam stood up straight and read the note aloud.

 


	2. Dealing with a Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam and Shiro try to figure out what to do with a baby, Katie is uncooperative to say the least, and something else is delivered to the apartment.

Pushing his way into the store, Shiro looked around to try and gauge where the baby food might be before walking quickly to the nearest clerk stocking the shelves.

Clearing his throat, Shiro asked, “’Scuse me, where can I find a jar of baby food?”

“Three aisles over,” the clerk said flatly as he pointed down the store.

Nodding in thanks, Shiro picked up his pace so he was jogging to get to the aisle of baby food. Stopping at the end of it, Shiro felt his mouth hang open at the sight of everything from diapers to formula, to items he didn’t know how to name.

Shaking his head, Shiro said to himself, “You gotta be kidding me.”

* * *

“C’mon kid, please stop crying?” Adam asked, rubbing his face as Katie let loose another round of screams.

Pushing his glasses up on his head Adam clapped his hands and grabbed one of the objects on the coffee table and held it up, “See this Oh this is a prism, see all the pretty colors? Yeah, this is good stuff, this is expensive stuff.”

Katie sniffed and raised her hands to flail around as she shrieked again. Biting his lip, Adam pictured the billiard room and the liquor cabinet but thought better.

“Alright, I’m getting such a headache. Ooh, how about a hairy chest?” Pulling his robe back to reveal his chest Katie’s shrieks intensified and Adam quickly fixed his robe.

Forcing a smile, Adam said, “Okay, okay, I’m gonna pick you up now. I won’t drop you if you won’t cry okay?”

Mimicking what he saw Shiro do earlier, Adam lifted Katie up and held her away from him as drool spilled down her chin. Holding his breath as Katie’s crying stopped for a moment, Adam smiled and began to walk around only for the baby to begin screaming again.

“No, no, no,” Adam whispered, “Please no, oh god where’s Shiro? You’re a little handful, aren’t you? You know you can drive a guy to drink?”

* * *

Scanning the shelves of the store Shiro grabbed a jar of what looked like mashed peas and turned to a woman stocking shelves.

“Excuse me?” Shiro asked, approaching the woman and holding up the jar, “Is this good food for a baby?”

“That’s for toddlers,” the woman stated casually as she continued her job.

“Toddler? What’s a toddler? I need something for a baby.”

Smiling at Shiro’s confusion, the woman turned and asked, “Is this your first?”

“My first…?” Shiro asked waving his hand to try and get an answer.

“Baby,” the woman stated, her name badge reading ‘Shay.’

Rolling his eyes, Shiro groaned, “The first and the last. What’s the best selling brand?”

Pointing to a shelf, Shay stated, “That white can over there.”

Placing the jar of peas back where he found it, Shiro crossed to the shelf and began to pick up a few cans of the baby formula.

Briefly looking over the nutrition facts, Shiro asked, “So this is the best?”

“No it’s the cheapest, that’s why it sells the best.”

Exhaling deeply, Shiro stacked the cans back on the shelf, frustration creeping into his tone as he asked, “So which is the healthiest?”

Not answering the question, Shay smiled and supplied, “Did you know that what a baby eats in it’s first few months can define its entire psychological future?”

“That’s very interesting…Shay. So what about one?” Shiro asked, picking up a few cans of more expensive formula.

“Ooohh that’s good,” Shay stated, prompting Shiro to pick up a few more before adding, “But it has iron in it.”

“Is that bad?” Shiro asked, suddenly worried about poisoning the kid.

“It is if your baby is allergic to it,” Shay stated snapping her fingers and leaning against her stack of boxes, ‘They spit up all over you if they’re allergic, but they do that if they aren’t too. Babies are just a handful. How old’s your baby?”

Stopping to look at the woman, Shiro bit his lip before stating, “I know how old my baby is! Thank you for your time Shay, I’ll take some of these and this, and you have been a great source of stress.”

Dropping a few cans of formula into an empty shopping basket, Shiro started to stalk away as Shay called, “And remember! If the baby is less than three months old, you gotta sterilize the nipples!”

* * *

_“Hush little baby don’t you cry when Takashi gets home I’m gonna poke him in the eye,”_ Adam sang as he carried Katie into his room, “Here we are, my room! You wanna, let’s watch some TV yeah? Amuse yourself.”

Placing Katie on his lap so she was facing the television, Adam turned it on and fell back against his pillows, breathing a sigh of relief as she stopped wailing. Breathing a sigh of relief, Adam relaxed his grip on Katie’s middle as she kicked her legs to whatever was playing on the TV. Letting the drone of the animal program distract the kid, Adam listened in boredom as the animal expert went on about pigeons and other city birds.

Breathing a small scoff, Adam mumbled, “Pigeons are less annoying than you are, kid.”

Hearing a small croon from Katie, Adam smirked and felt his shoulders and back relax into his bed only for the TV to start talking about a different animal and their mating habits. Grabbing the remote, Adam bit his lip and said with a head shake, “Oh no, we don’t wanna listen to that, now do we?”

As soon as the TV shut off, Katie turned to Adam, her eyes beginning to brim with tears as she broke into wails again. Groaning, Adam lifted Katie, still holding her away from him and said while shaking his head, “No, please kid, not again. You liked the pigeons, can you make a pigeon sound?”

Walking to the front door, Adam bit his lip and hissed more to himself that not the baby, “Now we’re gonna give you to Uncle Takashi and he can have some fun. Where the hell have you been–Miss Romelle!”

“Hello,” the building receptionist began, her eyes immediately darting to Katie, “Oh sir, is she yours?”

“No!” Adam blurted, trying to bounce Katie to make her screams subside.

“Mr. Shirogane’s then?” Romelle asked, adoration filing her eyes as she looked at the shrieking baby.

Shaking his head, Adam felt suddenly overwhelmed by the two people and stammered, “Uh, she’s Matt’s. We’re borrowing her for a while, I mean like babysitting! Her mother is out of town.”

“Oh, what’s her name?” Romelle asked, the number of simple questions beginning to get on Adam’s nerves.

“Pidge,” Adam started, his mind defaulting to the TV program before quickly saying, “I mean Allura, no Katie! Allura is her mother’s name, this is Katie.”

“Katie,” Romelle crooned, holding her hands out, “Do you mind if I hold her? I just love babies?”

“I dunno,” Adam said, trying to maintain a collected attitude, “She doesn’t seem to like strangers, but-”

Letting Romelle gently take Katie, Adam watched in amazement and horror as the baby ceased her crying and returned to making her small cooing sounds. Watching the blonde woman bounce Katie, Adam took the moment to adjust his glasses and robe so he seemed a bit more presentable that he currently looked.

Smiling, Romelle said gently, “I just love babies. Unfortunately, none of my previous partners ever wanted one.”

“No kidding,” Adam said, watching how Romelle held the child and taking mental notes so as to do the same thing.

Realization flashed on Romelle’s face as she began to talk but stopped and placed her hand over Katie’s diapered rear and said, “She did a doodle. Would you like my help changing her?”

Pausing, Adam tried to connect hat the heck that meant before shaking his head and saying, “No, no I got it.”

“Are you sure?” Romelle asked, her tone light and airy.

“Absolutely,” Adam said, taking Katie back, causing the baby to start screaming again. Adjusting the girl so he was holding her like he had seen Romelle do Adam said, “Well we’ve had a busy day so we’ll say bye now, say bye Katie, bye.”

Waving the shrieking baby’s hand Adam ushered Romelle to the door and kicked it shut, the receptionist’s own goodbyes seeming to calm Katie down a bit. Just before the door shut Romelle pushed it back open and reentered the apartment, holding up a small blue box.

“That’s right, this package just arrived downstairs for Mr. Holt,” Romelle said, holding out the box for Adam to take.

Grabbing the package Adam nodded and said, “Well thanks,” and threw it across the room to the couch.

“I’ll see myself out, oh hello Mr. Shirogane.”

“Romelle,” Shiro said as he pushed his way inside, the receptionist finally leaving.

Waiting for the door to shut Adam snapped, “Where the hell have you been?! She won’t stop crying and she did a doodle!”

“A doodle?” Shiro asked his tone irritated and disgusted, “What’s that? Nevermind! I don’t wanna know!”

“Well you’re gonna know pal,” Adam snapped as he followed Shiro into the kitchen.

Marching around the counter Shiro dropped four different paper shopping bags on the area and ranted, “Three different stores! Two types of diapers, four different formulas, three kinds of bottles! You have no idea how much shit these kids need!”

“Well hold her!” Adam said, his voice strained over Katie’s screaming, “I’m tired of it!”

“No!” Shiro yelled, his tone panicked, “No, I need to make her bottle. How old is she anyway?”

Rolling his eyes Adam resisted the urge to say something rude in front of the kid and said, “Oh I don’t know she didn’t exactly come with a receipt.”

“Check her teeth,” Shiro said, running his prosthetic hand through his hair as he fumbled with a bottle.

“Gross, no,” Adam exclaimed, holding Katie farther away from him, “Why would I do that?”

“The lady at the store said you could tell how old they are by checking their teeth,” Shiro said, his voice exasperated and tired.

“I’m not checking her teeth, you check them!” Adam said, offering Katie to his roommate.

Looking back and forth between the bottle heating up on the stove and the baby being offered to him, Shiro dipped his finger in the warm water and wiped it off before sticking it in Katie’s open mouth. Her screams quieted for a moment as Shiro tried to feel around for something and finally extracted his finger.

“Well?” Adam asked, savoring the few moments of quiet.

“There’s nothing there,” Shiro muttered bitterly.

“What does that mean?” Adam asked, his tone causing Katie to start crying again.

“It means she doesn’t have any damn teeth!” Shiro hissed, turning back to finish preparing the bottle.

“Well neither did Gabby Hayes and he was ninety!” Adam shot back, frustration building in his chest as his glasses slipped down and the situation felt out of hand, “What're we gonna do?”

“I don’t know Adam! But what’s that stench?”

* * *

 

“Takashi should we be doing this?” Adam asked, his tone worried as Shiro threw the couch pillows on the floor, “This is a girl.”

“Come on Adam, just help me,” Shiro said as he held Katie still with one hand.

The smell of shit was stronger than before as Katie squirmed and made small cooing sounds and kicked her legs, all while Adam and Shiro tried to get diapers and other supplies in order next to the sofa.

“Okay, I’m gonna open it,” Shiro said, carefully touching the tabs with his real hand, thankful his prosthetic could be washed just as easily.

Pulling back the tabs to expose the mess, both Adam and Shiro jerked away from the baby and gagged as the smell almost stung their eyes and permeate through the house.

“Oh my god,” Adam whispered horrified, “How can something that small make something so disgusting?”

“I don’t know,” Shiro whispered back, holding his hand out like he was performing surgery, “Um, gimme some of the cotton.”

Shuddering Adam grabbed a bag of cotton balls and ripped it open unceremoniously, causing a few wads to fall on the floor before handing a few to Shiro.

Dabbing at Katie’s rear for a few moments Shiro shook his head and clarified, “No Adam, the cotton _wipies_ , I need the wipes!”

“The cotton wipies,” Adam mimicked under his breath as he looked around and grabbed a package, “Here.”

“Ugh,” Shiro grunted as he began to clean Katie up, “It’s so–it’s so sticky, and wet, and so slimy.”

“Where’d you put the diapers?” Adam asked, not seeing the items in the stack surrounding them.

“Uh,” Shiro looked up from Katie, “On my left.”

Reaching over and grabbing one of the diapers from the packet, Adam watched with disgust and a small form of relief as Shiro finished wiping Katie clean, disposing of each dirty wipe in the trash can they had dragged in from Matt’s bathroom. Trying to get the diaper ready while Shiro held out his hand expectantly Adam frowned at the size of it but still gave it to his friend and watched as Katie was lifted for the diaper to be slipped behind her.

“Woah!” Adam exclaimed, at a loss for words as the diaper seemed to engulf Katie, “That diaper is way too big! What size did you get–”

“They were ultra absorbent!” Shiro supplied defensively, “The more absorbent the better in my opinion.”

Shaking his head as Shiro tried to pull the tab too far, Adam commented, “You’re gonna rip it.”

“I’m not gonna rip it–” Shiro started, only to be cut off by the tab tearing off. Taking a steadying breath Shiro ignored Adam’s amused smile and said, “Get me the tape from another diaper. I’ll tape it together. I’m an architect for god’s sake, I design skyscrapers, I can certainly assemble a god damn diaper. Take it easy kid.”

Holding Katie still as she tried to roll around Shiro took the tape offered to him by Adam and made a face as he tried to piece the diaper together properly.

Nodding in approval as the diaper seemed to be held together, Shiro picked Katie up from under her armpits and said proudly, “There. All done.”

Watching as the diaper fell off Katie’s small frame Adam said softly, “Good job ‘Kashi.”

Giggling from where she was being held, Katie gave a bright smile as pee began to dribble down her legs and onto the sofa.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Shiro said slowly, “The little _insect_ was just waiting for that diaper to fall off.”

If changing Katie’s diaper was a pain trying to wash her off entirely was worse. Adam and Shiro had crowded around the kitchen sink to try and wash the urine off her, but there was still the issue of dealing with her baby privates.

“Adam,” Shiro said as he dipped Katie back in the water, “You’re gonna have to wash where the poop was.”

“Can I just–” Adam began as he grabbed the turkey baster and squirted some of the soapy water at the baby, hoping that it would sufficiently clean the area.

“…that’s not gonna work Adam.”

“I know.”

* * *

 

“This is so like him,” Adam hissed quietly as he took a sip of his drink, “Just create a problem, and leave it for someone else to deal with.”

Shiro nodded in agreement before taking a swig of his own drink. The two men had moved into the billiard room to drink while hen Katie had fallen asleep in her basket in the living room. Both men were exhausted from trying to take care of the baby and had slipped into the habit of calling her Pidge after Adam turned on the animal show and pointed out the birds to Katie.

They deserved a drink after today.

“Matt said it’s a delicate issue,” Shiro whispered, swirling his drink, “And not to tell anyone.”

“He’s an asshole,” Adam whispered hoarsely, his voice all but gone from trying to talk loudly over Katie’s screaming and then be quiet when she went to sleep, “He’s just shoving this on us because we’re trapped and can’t tell anyone or we’ll ruin his precious reputation.”

Coughing into hi arm, Adam froze and waited a moment before physically deflating as Pidge’s crying began again. Holding out his fist out Shiro shook it and showed two fingers while Adam did the same and showed his hand flat out. Having lost the rock paper scissors battle Adam slowly stood up and took a sip of his drink before standing up and wandering back out to deal with the baby. Sighing in exhaustion Shiro took a moment to look at one of the half filled and discarded baby bottles before turning his attention to his coffee nearby. Taking the bottle Shiro squeeze some of the formula into his caffeinated drink b and took a sip of it, not displeased with the taste.

It was going to be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the late update on this but I'm back and actually have an update schedule believe it or not. I did plan to post this on June 10th as the 3 year celebration post for Voltron coming out because I'm a nerd like that and thought it would be really really fun, and I hope you guys like it!
> 
> 6/10/2019


	3. The Other Package

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Adam finally get rid of Katie...by giving her to drug dealers and having to talk to the narcotics officer.

“Shiro, will you just tell me what’s going on?” Veronica asked as she was pulled into the apartment.

Letting go of his partner’s hand Shiro tried to form the words to explain what he needed but ended up saying nothing as he passed by Adam who was passed out on the couch. The artist had taken the night shift for Katie and had been up most of the night trying to keep the baby soothed and relaxed, resulting in Adam himself being out like a light when he should’ve been working on his next comic strip. All in all, the two men were losing their minds trying to take care of the kid without snapping at each other.

Shiro had called off going into his office to work for two days to take some stress off Adam, and both of them were quickly losing their patience. Even with Romelle’s offer of helping them out hanging over their heads, Adam was the one to constantly mutter angrily about Matt’s irresponsibility and how it had to be “kept a secret” so as not to ruin his reputation.

They were both at their wit’s end.

“Shiro this is Narti,” Veronica said, motioning to the musician following close behind her, “She’s a cellist from Hungary working at the–”

“Yeah that’s nice,” Shiro said as he entered the room where Katie was, “This is the big problem.”

Motioning to the child Shiro waited for some kind of response from Veronica only to receive a laugh. Looking over the woman Shiro realized how pretty she looked tonight. Dressed in a navy blue evening dress that flowed around her Shiro knew she was an attractive woman, he just wasn’t interested in her that way. Cuddles and hand holding was all he wanted and needed from her, and considering she wasn’t interested in men it worked out. They put up a good front for the other when family dinners or business events came up and they needed a date that was socially acceptable or when they just needed a friend or someone to confide in.

Looking at Katie with a smile Veronica laughed again and asked, “That’s what the fuss is over?”

“That’s a baby,” Narti said with an amused smile as she leaned on her cello case, a thick accent making her words harder for Shiro to figure out.

Sputtering for a moment Shiro said, “Of course it’s a baby! It’s Matt’s baby!”

“Matt’s baby?” Veronica asked with a laugh as she leaned over to inspect Katie, “Oh no, she looks nothing like him. Matt has much more hair–”

“I’m glad you’re finding amusement in my dire situation,” Shiro said sarcastically.

“Where is Matt?” Veronica asked, letting Katie grab onto her finger for a moment.

“Matt?” Shiro asked, annoyance rising in him at the thought of his roommate, “Matt’s in Turkey, which is where I’d be if my baby was here in New York.”

As if on cue Katie began to make sounds of unhappiness, causing Shiro to snap into action and bend down to pick her up.

“See, now she wants to be held,” Shiro stated as he lifted the kid, “Babies like to be held. Here’s the thing Ron, I don’t know how to do this, Adam doesn’t know how to do this and we’re dying here!”

Turning around Shiro grabbed one of the parenting books he had bought on impulse and flipped to a page before handing it to the woman. Taking the book Veronica skimmed the pages, adjusting her glasses slightly as she took in the words Shiro had gone over with a pink highlighter from Adam’s room.

“The book says,” Shiro began, frustration rising in his voice, “To feed the baby every two hours, but it takes me two hours to get her to eat! So do I start feeding her two hours from when I start or two hours from when I finish because I’ve been feeding her from when I start and I’m feeding her all the time.”

Nodding in concern Veronica handed the book to Narti who squinted at it before adjusting her suit jacket and gently placing the text on the table. Bouncing Katie lightly Shiro used his real hand to push some of his hair back from his face as he watched Veronica expectantly.

“So which is it?” Shiro asked, hoping for some kind of answer.

“Excuse me?” Veronica said in amusement and disbelief.

“Which is it?” Shiro repeated, “You know this.”

Rolling her eyes Veronica crossed her arms and asked, “What makes you think I know anything about taking care of a baby?”

“Because you have like six younger siblings,” Shiro said, knowing full well Veronica’s youngest sibling was turning two soon, “And you’re the woman who helped raise them.”

“You want me to take care of her,” Veronica said, adjusting her glasses, “Now?”

Shaking his head Shiro shifted Katie over to his other arm while he said, “No, when she graduates from college, yes now.”

“No.”

“Ron, why not?” Shiro asked, hating how he made accidental eye contact with Narti.

Waiting a moment Veronica sighed and grabbed Shiro by the arm, pulling him to the side and away from Narti.

Narrowing her eyes Veronica said in a snipped voice, “Just because Lance is a baby doesn’t mean I’m going to put my life on hold to help you take care of this.”

“She isn’t even my problem!” Shiro exclaimed, not caring if the cellist heard him.

Making shushing sounds Veronica hissed, “I. Have. A. Date.”

“Oh?” Shiro asked in mock surprise as he looked over at Narti, “I had no idea you were ditching me in my time of need.”

“Takashi,” Veronica said softly, her use of his first name making him stay quiet, “We’re platonic. We’re in an open relationship, you were the one who proposed this. I’m not going to stop trying to find happiness to help you change a diaper. I’m already babysitting Lance on Thursdays and I love my family but I can’t help you right now.”

“Babies are very hard work,” Narti said with a smile as if she was trying to understand the conversation.

Gesturing to Narti with his free hand Shiro asked, “No shit, where did you pick this girl up?”

“Veronica, we be late,” Narti said.

“I know,” Veronica said as she looked at Shiro, “You’re a very big boy, Shiro, and I’m sure you can take care of this.”

“Well I’m sorry for cramping your romantic style,” Shiro said with sarcasm dripping from his words, “But you can go out with the whole damn string section for all I care, right now I need you.”

Ignoring the glare Veronica sent him Shiro bit his lip as Katie shifted in his arms and a familiar sound came from the baby. Groaning Shiro waved his hand around in the air as he tried to talk, his irritation with the situation building up.

“Now she did a doodle!”

“Doodle!” Narti repeated with a smile as Veronica pulled her away.

“Yes!” Shiro yelled as he followed the two women to the elevator, holding Katie securely to his chest, “Don’t babies doodle in Hungary?”

“Bye Takashi,” Veronica said as the elevator doors began to close.

Waiting until the doors were almost shut Shiro called, “I hate the cello!”

The brief look of disbelief and shock on Narti’s face almost made him feel better.

* * *

“Takashi,” Adam said, catching the architect’s attention, “One more day.”

“Yup,” Shiro said as he carefully measured out the formula for Katie’s next bottle.

It seemed impossible how they would be getting rid of the baby and it gave Shiro a sense of relief not to have her constantly crying or demanding things. At the same time, a small part of Shiro made him want to keep Katie around just a little longer.

“Are you gonna miss her?” Adam asked as he adjusted his glasses from where they were on top of his head.

Looking at the man, Shiro sighed and recognized the way Adam had his eyes narrowed in concentration while he held Katie in an upright position. They way Adam bit his bottom lip ever so slightly and how he didn’t seem to notice a cute expression take over his face made a small smile tug at the corner of Shiro’s mouth. Realizing he still hadn’t answered, Shiro turned his attention back to the bottle and finished preparing it while he thought.

Katie was a pain in the ass. She cried, ate, slept, went through more diapers than Shiro thought was possible, and was making it almost impossible to get any work done. But she was also kinda cute and in a weird way, looking at the kid and imagining her not being there made Shiro feel…empty?

Hesitating a moment Shiro shook his head and said, “No. No, not really.”

* * *

“We’re here to pick up a package for Mr. Rolo Miller,” The man said as he bounced on the balls of his feet, “Very delicate, you know?”

“A package,” Shiro said as he rolled his eyes, “I love how everyone keeps calling it a package.”

Turning back into the apartment Shiro straightened his suit tie. He had a meeting at the construction site after this and Adam had to meet up with someone for a comic strip collaboration, making them both want to get this over with. Taking up Katie’s baby basket with her in it, Shiro tried to ignore the strange twisting in his stomach when he looked at the baby. Something in him felt like this was wrong, but at the same time he knew he and Adam weren’t equipped to take care of the kid.

Looking up to see Adam standing in the doorway, Shiro paused to listen to what the man was saying.

Pointing a finger in the face of the shorter man, Adam said sharply “I don’t know who you are, but you can tell Allura for us but this thing has been driving us crazy.”

“Woah woah, buddy what–”

“We haven’t been able to eat or sleep because of this thing stressing us out,” Adam said, his voice rising as he focused his irritation onto the men, “We even considered calling the police–”

“The police!” The man yelled, taking a step back, “What the hell–”

“But we didn’t,” Adam continued, “And we’ve been the ones suffering from it and there’s been shit everywhere–”

“Shit?” the man demanded, his tone turning hostile and making Shiro pause, “Did you put it back?”

“Put it back,” Adam said exasperatedly as he turned to look at Shiro, “No, of course we didn’t you think we’d want to cause constipation?”

Pushing past Adam to face the two men, Shiro held out the baby basket to be taken and said, “She goes down for a nap around 1:30 and eats right after. I’m getting you a can of powdered milk.”

Smiling as if he understood some kind of secret, the man took the basket and said, “Well then, we’ll take the _powdered milk_ and be on our way.”

Feeling Adam look at him, Shiro turned to the table in the hallway and took the can and dropped it next to Katie. Taking a moment to adjust the blanket around her Shiro stepped back at the same time Adam crossed his arms.

Looking back and forth between Shiro and Katie, the man’s cheerful expression dropped as he asked, “Wait, are you serious?”

“As the plague,” Adam snorted before turning back into the apartment.

“Oh–okay,” the shorter man said as he turned to look at his taller partner.

“And she likes to be rocked to sleep,” Shiro added, “Gently.”

“Right,” the man said as they entered the elevator, “Gently.”

Letting the door shut behind him, Shiro wandered into the living room where Adam was stretched out on the couch. Sitting down on one of the cushioned seats, Shiro shifted and tried to get comfortable.

“You hear the Takashi?” Adam asked, his expression peaceful and relaxed, “Silence. It’s wonderful.”

Biting his lip Shiro asked, “Are you sure we did the right thing?”

“Takashi,” Adam said, pushing himself up on one elbow, “You said it yourself, we can’t take care of the kid. Now we just have to sit back, relax, and forget this ever happened.”

Nodding uncertainly, Shiro leaned back in his chair only for something to dig into his leg. Shifting so he could reach between the cushions, Shiro frowned and pulled out a small sealed box. Turning it over in his prosthetic hand, Shiro tried to think what it could be before holding it up.

“Adam, what’s this?”

Looking up, Adam blinked and said, “Package.”

“When did it come in?” Shiro asked as strange lightheadedness took over him.

“Sunday,” Adam said before jumping up and moving to the phone, “We gotta stop them.”

“Try and get their attention,” Shiro said, shoving the box into his jacket pocket and bolting out of the apartment.

Adrenaline washed over Shiro as he hit the elevator button before turning to the stairwell and skipping steps. Something in him nagged that he should’ve known better, but all he could think about was getting Katie back and giving the men their package, whatever it might be. Feeling his legs burn as he pushed through the door to the ground floor, Shiro looked across the foyer to see a red car parked out front with the two men trying to shove the basket into the trunk.

Pushing himself into a run, Shiro felt his foot catch on one of the rugs before he tripped and fell, the box in his pocket bursting open as he hit the floor. From the package, small white packets spilled across the rug and made Shiro freeze as he tried to push them back into the box. Stumbling to his feet Shiro made it out to where the two men were arguing about putting Katie in the trunk.

“Wait,” Shiro called, slowing as he neared the man holding Katie’s basket, “Wait, there’s been a mistake.”

“A what?” the man asked, his formerly kind desposition turned sour

“I made a mistake,” Shiro said quickly, the box in his coat pocket burning against his chest, “I gave you the wrong package! I–” stopping to look at Katie, a sense of dread filled him and quickly Shiro took the basket by the handles, “Give me the baby.”

“No,” the man hissed, trying to keep a hold of the basket, “A deal’s a deal.”

Feeling an argument begin Shiro froze as a different voice cut through their debate and snapped, “Both of you break it up!”

Looking up, Shiro saw a policeman on a horse and terror shot through him as he tried to think about what would happen to him if he was found to be in possession of the drugs in his pocket.

“Officer,” the man said, letting go of the basket, “What can we do for you today?”

“You double parked jackass,” the man said from atop his horse, “License and registration.”

“Of course, of course,” the man said, moving to the front of the car before diving in as his partner sped off.

Freezing up as the cop pointed a finger at him, Shiro felt like the wind was knocked out of him as the man said, “Hold it. I need to see some ID.”

Shiro’s mouth felt dry as he patted his pockets to find he had left his wallet upstairs.

“Officer, I left my wallet in my apartment.”

“Spread em,” the man said as he dismounted the horse.

“Officer!” Shiro said holding up Katie in the basket, “My apartment is right here, I live just upstairs! I can get you some ID but I’m not gonna spread em because I have a baby!”

Somehow that made more sense in his head than it did once it left his mouth.

Somehow the officer relented and followed Shiro up to the apartment and waited in the foyer. As he pushed his way inside, Shiro saw a look of relief pass over Adam while the artist took Katie from the basket and held her close to his chest.

Grabbing Adam by the arm, Shiro called over his shoulder, “Be right there officer!”

“What happened?” Adam asked in a hushed tone, not reacting when Katie grabbed at his glasses.

Pulling out the box of drugs, Shiro said, “Take a guess. Hide them somewhere nobody will look, I gotta deal with this.”

Taking the box with a shaky hand Adam looked back at Katie and nodded at Shiro before turning away. If Shiro had been paying attention he would’ve noticed the way Adam gently kissed the baby’s head, but he was too preoccupied trying to find his identification. Finally presenting it to the officer Shiro felt a slight tension leave him as the man nodded in approval and began to make his way out of the home.

“If there’s anything I can do,” Shiro said, trying to maintain a positive air as the elevator arrived on the floor.

Looking at the elevator doors as they opened to reveal another man, Shiro felt his throat tighten as the man smiled.

Holding up a badge the man said, “Seargent Thace, narcotics officer. Mind if I ask you a few questions?”

* * *

Adam was sure the day couldn’t get any worse as he cut open and stuffed the heroin packets into one of Katie’s unused diapers. Quickly changing the baby so she was wearing the taped up drug diaper, Adam walked around the apartment and listened as Shiro spoke to someone who wasn’t the police officer. Peering around the corner, Adam caught a glimpse of the man and pulled back to the kitchen, gently bouncing Katie to try and keep her quiet and satisfied. The man had been holding a badge for Shiro to see as they walked into the apartment, talking about Matt and their association with Rolo.

“Rolo Miller has been found as a dealer for illegal substances,” Thace said, having repeated his name for Shiro, “We heard Mr. Holt was previously employed by him. Where is Mr. Holt, if I may ask?”

“Matt,” Shiro said as he wandered into the living room, “Matt’s filming in Turkey, we actually can’t get ahold of him.”

“Ah,“ Thace said as he looked around the lavish loft, “May I have that glass of water now?”

“Yes,” Shiro said, turning from the room to head to retrieve the refreshment.

Feeling jittery while he reached for a glass Shiro jumped as the phone rang, the sound echoing throughout the loft’s other phones.

“Hey guys, it’s me Matt!” the voice on the phone said as it went through to voicemail, “I’m calling from Turkey! You wouldn’t believe the shit they have here!”

“Damn it,” Shiro hissed as he scrambled to grab the phone, “Matt? Matt it’s me Shiro.”

“Shiro! My buddy,” Matt said through the phone, his voice cherry and oblivious as to what was happening, “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours! Do you know–”

“Actually Matt,” Shiro said, pausing as he heard another phone in the house pick up and join in on the call, “Now’s not a really good time.”

“What?” Matt asked, his tone changing to something worried, “Oh come on, I miss you guys and this is the reaction I get when I finally get through to you?”

“Matt,” Shiro said in a warning tone, hoping the man would pick up on the hint, “I really have to go.”

“Okay fine,” Matt said with a laugh, “I’ll bring you back a drum stick or something. You wouldn’t believe the customs here. Eh, worst case scenario I’ll smuggle some stuff back in for you guys.”

Saying a quick goodbye, Shiro hung up and let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. It was obvious that across the house Thace had picked up another receiver and had listened in on the conversation, and Matt’s sense of humor just sounded like he was trying to smuggle drugs, not souvenirs.

Turning to grab a glass, Shiro filled it with water before muttering to himself, “Gotta give him a drink so his mouth doesn’t go dry when he read me his rights.”

Returning to where the sergeant was waiting, Shiro held out the glass and listened as Thace tried to make small talk. Without warning a sharp cry broke through the air of the apartment and Thace was walking towards it. Following him quickly, Shiro tried to say he had to go to work and that it would be better if he came back later, only to be stopped when Thace entered the back area of the kitchen.

Swallowing his nerves Shiro said, “Sergeant Thace this is my other roommate Adam.”

“And who’s this little bundle of joy?” Thace asked, his face showing nothing but adoration as he looked at Katie.

“Matt’s daughter,” Shiro said, “We’re looking after her for a while.”

“Oh, can I hold her?” Thace asked, turning to look at Shiro.

“Sure,” the architect said, too tired to make a big deal about it.

“I dunno Shiro,” Adam said, his face showing a hint of worry, “You know how she gets with strangers.”

“Adam,” Shiro said in a commanding tone, “Let him hold her.”

Glaring at Shiro, Adam let Thace take the baby all while hovering close by before moving to his roommate’s side.

Under his breath in a voice almost inaudible Adam said, “Heroin’s in the diaper.”

Suddenly Shiro understood why Adam was so reluctant to let Thace hold the baby.

Making a few cooing sounds at the child Thace looked up at Shiro and said, “My nephew is just a little older than this. He’s a little loner, but I can’t help but love children. My, uh, friend and I can’t adopt in our current situation so we just take care of him from time to time.”

“Your nephew?” Shiro asked, suddenly curious as to if everyone in New York knew how to take care of kids except him and Adam, “Do you have any tips?”

“Every child is different,” Thace said as he rubbed Katie’s cheek gently, “Keith has a good father taking care of him, but I would make sure to find something she enjoys doing or a toy she likes.”

Making a mental note of that, Shiro saw Adam tense up as Thace felt Katie’s diaper and handed her back to the bespectacled man.

“It looks like someone needs changing,” Thace said with a smile as he shook Katie’s hand, “We’ll I’ll be off now. I have everything I need and will be in contact with you if anything else comes up.”

“Yes sergeant,” Shiro said as he followed Thace to the elevator, “I hope you have a good day.”

Nodding as the doors shut, Thace seemed like he was contemplating something before he was finally out of view.

* * *

“How was I supposed to know you put the heroin in the diaper?” Shiro asked as he reentered the apartment, “What’re we gonna do now?”

“I don’t think you realize the situation,” Adam said as he stepped closer to Shiro, Katie tucked closely in his arms, “We’re in deep shit, Takashi.”

“With the narcotics guy and Rolo being a drug dealer I’d think so,” Shiro said sharply, feeling sick to his stomach.

“You need to get it through your head,” Adam said, holding Katie out, “Nobody’s coming back for this kid!”

Freezing in his tracks Shiro blinked and felt a rush of terror grip him. He and Adam were stuck with Pidge for the unforseen future and that scared him.

“My meeting,” Shiro breathed, somehow the thought breaking through the realization that he as now a surrogate father.

“I have my collab,” Adam said as he looked around quickly before shifting Katie in his arms, “What do we do with her?”

“I don’t know,” Shiro said, fumbling for his blueprints, “I can’t watch her!”

“Mr. Shirogane? Mr. Wright?”

Turning to the feminine voice that echoed through their front doorway, Shiro and Adam visibly relaxed as Romelle wandered into the apartment with a soft smile on her face.

Pointing behind her, Romelle asked, “Do either of you know about some horse manure on the front steps?”

Looking at each other and then at Katie, Adam said, “Miss Romelle, it’s so nice to see you.”

“It’s really lovely to see you here, Miss Romelle,” Shiro echoed, hoping that the woman wouldn’t mind watching Katie for a few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom! Update! I know I'm a week late with this but life has been kicking me so much. I do plan on updating biweekly if not every week and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I had too much fun writing it because I kept laughing when I remembered the scenes from the movie.
> 
> 6/30/2019


	4. The Break In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Adam try to get used to taking care of Katie with some help from Romelle, but some people just can't stop until they get what's theirs, even if it means breaking into the apartment.

“Romelle is free to babysit on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Shiro said as he heated up Katie’s bottle on the stove, “I think we can work with that. I can take care of her on Monday and Friday mornings and I might be able to take her into the office on Wednesday. What about you?”

“I can do Friday all day and whatever you can’t,” Adam said, penciling in his name on the schedule he had drawn up, “Do you really think this is gonna work?”

“I have no idea,” Shiro said as he tested the formula’s temperature on his wrist, “I hope so, but we might have to try looking into daycare centers.”

“That’s a good idea,” Adam said, adjusting his hold on Katie so she wasn’t slipping from his arm, “You could ask Veronica if her brother goes to one.”

Not answering, Shiro focused on making sure the bottle was ready before moving to take Katie from Adam. Romelle’s offer to babysit Katie had been a godsend, especially after finding out they had been roped into drug trafficking, but Shiro was still worried about leaving the baby with the receptionist in case something happened.

“Takashi?” Adam asked, concern written across his face as he handed Katie to the architect, “Did something happen with Veronica?”

“We…we’re…” Shiro trailed off, unsure of what to say.

He had tried to keep his attraction to men on the down-low while Veronica had been more open about her relationships with women. Shiro just wasn’t sure if using Veronica as his cover, whether they were comfortable being platonic with each other, was a good idea anymore. He was in no way ashamed of himself and his sexuality, but Shiro also knew how others would react and the way it could affect his career.

“We’re taking a break,” Shiro said carefully, a small smile creeping across his face as Katie greedily grabbed at the hand holding her bottle, “Chill out Pidge.”

“Did something happen?” Adam asked, “Is it because of the insect?”

“No,” Shiro said, shaking his head as Katie quickly downed her meal, “Ron just thinks we need some time apart. I was also kind of insensitive to her and I need some time to apologize sincerely.”

Making a sound of acknowledgment Adam finished writing on the schedule before moving to put it on the fridge. It had been a good idea letting Adam create the schedule, especially since he color-coded it with who was on “Katie Duty” for each day.

“So what do we do about the heroin?” Adam asked, returning to his seat, “We can’t just keep it in the diaper pail.”

Snorting at the hiding place they had come up with for the drugs, Shiro nodded and said, “We also have the narcotics squad to deal with.”

“No we don’t,” Adam stated, “We’re supposed to ignore them and pretend that we don’t know they’re following us.”

It had been a shock for Shiro when he realized two men had been assigned to follow him and Adam after Sergeant Thace had dropped by, but he should’ve expected something like that. Shiro only noticed when he realized the same man wearing the exact same blue jacket had followed him from the plaza where he bought magazines all the way to his office and back to his apartment. Adam had been much cooler about being tailed and only brought it up to Shiro over dinner and Katie’s tantrum about her six in the evening bottle.

“Do you wanna take her tonight?” Adam asked, nodding towards Katie, “Because I don’t mind having her with me this time.”

“You’re sure?” Shiro asked with a raised eyebrow, “I thought you had another meeting tomorrow?”

Shaking his head, Adam reached over to wave his finger in front of Katie, a soft smile appearing on his face as the girl grabbed the finger and began to gum on it. Breathing a soft laugh at the sight of his usually tense roommate being so gentle and open with Katie and her lack of teeth, Shiro shifted the child so she was facing the man.

“Hey,” Adam said lightly, speaking directly to Katie, “Did you almost get drug trafficked? Yes you did!”

“Adam!” Shiro exclaimed as his eyes widened, “Don’t tell her that!”

“She doesn’t know what I’m saying,” Adam insisted, his tone still gentle and upbeat, “But I’m sure. If we’re gonna be stuck with this creature I might as well get used to her.”

Shaking his head at the blunt explanation Shiro offered the baby to his roommate, not even surprised at Adam’s attitude towards Katie. It was obvious Adam was more than unhappy about suddenly being in charge of taking care of Matt’s child, but the way he interacted with her so tentatively and carefully like she could burst into tears at any moment made Shiro wonder why the artist never showed the softer side of himself to anyone else.

“We’re gonna need to get her a toy or something,” Shiro said, remembering what Thace had said about entertaining the kid, “What do you think she’ll like?”

“She’s a potato, Takashi,” Adam said, looking at Shiro with sarcasm written across his face, “I don’t think she knows anything other than eat, shit, and sleep.”

“She’s not a potato,” Shiro argued, “She’s kind of cute.”

Scoffing, Adam leaned on the counter before saying, “If I remember correctly, when Veronica showed you her picture of Lance after he was born you called him a, ‘baby baked potato,’ and she agreed.”

“That was one time!” Shiro insisted, remembering how Lance had no distinguishable features at two weeks old, “Give me a break!”

“Not a chance.

* * *

 

Adam didn’t consider himself the best at taking care of children, especially considering he had no siblings or anyone younger than him to take care of, but he thought he was doing okay with Katie. He had gone all day without the girl breaking into tears or screaming, managed to get her to drink her first bottle of daylight hours without as much hassle as Shiro did, and even got a few panels of his next comic done while Katie played with a few capped markers on her stomach.

Until she managed to open one of the markers.

“Oh Takashi isn’t gonna be happy,” Adam mumbled as he rubbed Katie’s marker stained face with a baby wipe, “You’re a mess Pidge. An actual mess.”

As if in response Katie let out a small shriek and tried to clap her chubby hands together. Pressing his lips together as he ignored Katie trying to grab the wipe, Adam rubbed at the stained portion of her cheek and arm again with a small bit of the ink coming away.

Sighing in defeat at what little he could clean up, Adam tossed the baby wipe at the trash bin ad picked Katie up while he tried to think of what to do next. Usually he’d paint a bit if he was inspired or call up one of the women Matt introduced him to, but neither of those seemed like a good idea, especially with Katie being in a good mood and curious about all of her surroundings.

Looking down at the baby lightly smacking his chest, Adam rolled his eyes at Katie and asked, “You wanna sit on my lap while I watch some TV?”

Small coos of approval were Katie’s only reply.

“You’re a really good excuse to talk to myself,” Adam said, moving to his room and turning on the TV.

Adjusting Katie so she was leaning her back against his chest, Adam found himself relaxing with the TV droning on and the small warmth on his lap. Shaking his head when Katie kicked her legs and bounced in excitement at some animal on the television Adam tried to hold back a smile. There was no way for the artist to express what he felt towards the baby other than calling her an inconvenience, but Adam didn’t mind it when Katie was acting cute and behaving to get her way.

“You’re a trouble maker,” Adam said, rubbing his thumb over the marker stain on Katie’s squishy arm, “Smarter than I thought too. We’re gonna have to tell Takashi about that, aren’t we?”

Katie let out a few more sounds of agreement while she bounced up and down on Adam’s la

* * *

 

“Did we do this right?” Shiro asked as he checked the stroller straps again, “If she falls out we’re gonna run her over or something.”

“It’s fine,” Adam said, holding the pacifier they had bought for Katie’s near her mouth, “Besides, if she starts to fall you know she’ll start screaming.”

Shaking his head at the thought of Katie crying in a park full of people, Shiro let his eyes roam over the straps securing the baby into the stroller. Going shopping for more baby things on a Saturday morning hadn’t been Shiro’s idea of a good way to spend the weekend, but he knew that there was no way to properly take care of Katie with their apartment that wasn’t suitable for a baby.

After loading up on diapers, some baby clothes, and other supplies, Shiro had insisted on buying a stroller for the kid. Adam had been somewhat reluctant to go along with Shiro’s idea, but he had missed going on his morning runs without worrying about waking Katie up. In Shiro’s mind, this was the best way to get his jog in and keep an eye on the child. The sports stroller was well equipped with a cupholder for Shiro and a small tray for Katie and was even more confusing to set up than either man thought it would be.

“I set up the highchair,” Adam muttered, a look of brief disgust crossing his face as Katie spit on his fingers, “You can manage a stroller.”

“At least we got her dressed,” Shiro said as he moved to push the stroller onto the sidewalk.

It had been a challenge to get Katie dressed in her baby overalls, but somehow with both of them working on it Shiro and Adam had managed to get the baby into the outfit. It seemed simple enough when Shiro saw it in the store, but he was starting to rethink his choices the more he thought about how much of a fuss Katie put up every time she needed to be dressed.

“Don’t look over your shoulder,” Adam said quietly as he fell in line next to Shiro as they walked through the park, "I mean it, the narcotics guys are following us again.”

Making a sound of acknowledgment, Shiro carefully looked around at the other families and couples littered around the area. It was obvious that Katie wasn’t Shiro’s child, her light brown hair and honey brown eyes didn’t match up in the slightest with Shiro’s darker features, but she could’ve passed for Adam’s kid. Looking at his roommate to try and see how similar Katie’s baby appearance was in comparison to Adam’s own brown hair and eyes, Shiro wondered if their new situation was going to ruin any opportunities for the man.

“You’re staring,” Adam said in a light teasing tone, moving to push Shiro out of the way so he could take control of the stroller, “That usually means you’re thinking too much. What’s up?”

“You know me too well,” Shiro said with a smirk.

He could never understand how Adam knew what he was thinking just by looking at him, but Shiro didn’t mind too much. It was nice having one of his roommates able to read him and pay attention while Matt was lost in his own world an oblivious to most anything else. No matter how smart, funny, and attractive Matt was, he could be so stupid and selfish at times.

“Are you gonna say anything?” Adam asked, putting hs coffee in one of the cupholders, “Or are you gonna just stay in your brooding thinking mode?”

“I was just wondering…” Shiro began, unsure of how to continue.

Adam had made it perfectly clear he didn’t like people trying to give him handouts or help him with his work, and Shiro didn’t want to sound too concerned and end up on the receiving end of the artist’s temper.

“I was wondering if you had any coffee creamer,” Shiro said bluntly, the change in subject suddenly applicable.

“Yeah,” Adam said as he leaned forward to check on Katie, “Here.”

Frowning as the bespectacled man handed him Katie’s unfinished bottle, Shiro raised an eyebrow and said, “This is baby formula.”

“It works pretty well,” Adam said without hesitation, returning to pushing Katie along.

“You _drank_ Pidge’s bottle?” Shiro asked, shock and amusement obvious in his voice as he walked faster, “And you _liked_ it?”

“No,” Adam said, his chin up and his head held with the same amount of composure as usual despite the blush creeping across his face, “I just used it in coffee.”

“That’s disgusting,” Shiro snickered as he popped the top off his own drink and began to squeeze some of the formula into it, “I wanna try it.

* * *

 

“Thanks again Ms. Romelle,” Shiro said, a smile on his face as he wiggled his finger out of Katie’s grip, “One of us should be back by two so you can take off.”

“It’s not a problem,” Romelle said as she bounced Katie in her arms, “We’re going to have a lot of fun, aren’t we sweetie? I have some music and books to read with her.”

“I’m heading out,” Adam called as he pushed past the two adults, raising a hand in farewell, “See you later Ms. Romelle!”

“Please, it’s just Romelle,” the receptionist said with a smile, her full attention turned towards Katie, “Pidge is going to be just fine.”

Giving the child another look, Shiro offered Romelle a smile of gratitude before joining Adam in the elevator.

Standing in silence next to the man, Shiro sighed and asked, “You hear anything from Matt yet?”

“No,” Adam said, giving Shiro a look he couldn’t read, “If I did I’d tell you about it. Trust me, the next time I see that stupid thespian I’m gonna strangle him.”

“Please don’t,” Shiro laughed, noticing how Adam looked dead serious.

Stepping out of the elevator, Adam slapped Shiro on the shoulder and said, “I’ll probably be back after you, make sure Pidge goes down for her nap.”

“Got it,” Shiro called as the two split off to try and hail a cab.

* * *

 

When Shiro got off the construction site he assumed he had plenty of time to get a few things from one of the vendors on the street. It wasn’t supposed to take too long, all Shiro wanted was a newspaper but when he saw a small plush lion he somehow knew Katie would want it.

“Hi,” Shiro said as he stepped up to the register and straightened his suit jacket, “I need one sports illustrated, a copy of the times, a package of gum, and that green stuffed lion.”

“That’s not a lion, that’s a tiger,” the woman at the register said, gathering the items Shiro requested, “See? It doesn’t have a mane.”

“Whatever,” Shiro said, not wanting to draw attention to the small toy, “The tiger.”

“Yeah, that’s a tiger,” another man said from behind the register.

Holding back a groan of annoyance Sihro shoved a ten-dollar bill at the woman who had been helping him and grabbed the magazines and lion from her. Turning and leaving the area quickly, Shiro ignored how the woman called that he forgot his change and continued down the street. It had been embarrassing for Shiro to be seen buying a small stuffed animal like that, especially when the workers had been making a bigger deal out of it than was needed, but something made him feel like it was worth it.

When Shiro stepped out of the elevator to the apartment, he wondered if he had forgotten to close the door behind him when he left in the morning or if Romelle had opened it for some reason.

Entering his home Shiro called, “Ms. Romelle? I’m back is there–”

Shiro was cut off by the sight and sound of Romelle tied to a chair with a gag around her face and mouth. Dropping the things he was holding to quickly untie the woman, Shiro noticed the way the apartment had been ransacked with everything upturned.

Like someone had been looking for something.

“Where’s Pidge?” Shiro asked as he pulled the gag away from Romelle’s face, “Where’s Katie?”

“I don’t know,” the woman said, her hands still tied behind the chair, “I don’t know.”

Shiro’s head felt light as he stood up and began to move through the apartment calling Katie’s name. The room with all of Adam’s film equipment was a disaster with cameras strewn on the floor, a few canvases stepped on and broken, and no sign of Katie. Beginning to run through the apartment Shiro took int he sight of the video room where almost all the VHS tapes had been pulled apart, some lying around on the floor while others looked like streamers from the shelves, but none of that mattered.

Shiro could feel his heart pound against the inside of his chest as he searched each room, coming up with nothing, no sign of Katie and no idea what was happening except that he needed to find her.

After what felt like an eternity of looking through the different rooms and feeling panic grip his throat, the sound of a familiar shriek pierced through the blood rushing through Shiro’s ears. Rushing to the small area adjacent to the patio Shiro pulled open the doors to a small snack cupboard to find Katie lying on her back screaming, her short limbs flailing as she saw Shiro and wailed louder.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shiro picked up Katie and held her close to his chest, gently rubbing the back of her head and back with his real hand while he inhaled her soft baby smell.

“It’s okay,” Shiro whispered, his voice shaky and weak as he held the child, “It’s alright sweetheart, everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Takashi!”

Shiro didn’t even move when Adam appeared in the doorway, his glasses askew and worry written across his face.

“She’s okay,” Shiro said with a tired smile, “Nothing happened to her.”

There was a pause as Adam approached Shiro and carefully asked, “What about you?”

“Me?” Shiro asked, not comprehending the meaning, “I–I’m fine–just did you see what they did to my video tapes? The bastards.”

Noticing Shiro’s attempt to disociate from what he was feeling, Adam looked down at something he was holding in his hands before saying, “That wasn’t all they did.”

“What?” Shiro asked, his eyes widening and his hold on Katie becoming firmer.

Holding the piece of paper up for Shiro to see, Adam read the words written on it in thick black marker, “ _‘Next time we’ll take the baby.’_ ”

Letting out a shaky breath, Shiro took the paper with his prosthetic and allowed Adam to hold Katie while he stared at the words. The small whispers and reassurances Adam gave the whimpering girl played quietly in the back of Shiro’s mind as he reread the message, suddenly terrified about what could’ve happened if Katie had been taken.

“Mr. Shirogane?”

Blinking in surprise at the female voice calling his name, Shiro looked at Adam who seemed just as surprised.

“Mr. Wright? Could you untie me?”

Swallowing thickly, Shiro found himself cracking a smile as he said hoarsely, “We both left Romelle there.”

“Yeah,” Adam said, a shaky grin of his own appearing, “We did. Takashi–”

“I’ll get her,” Shiro said, rising to his feet, “I…I think we won’t be having her babysit anymore.”

“No,” Adam said softly, his hands wrapped protectively around Katie, “For her sake, not until we get this sorted. Don’t tell her why.”

“Romelle is smart,” Shiro said as he left the room, “I think she’ll figure it out.”

* * *

 

Shiro had to give Romelle credit, she had handled the break in better than he and Adam had. Without much complaint, the woman agreed that she’d only watch Katie when Shiro had deemed it safe, but was determined to stop by to see the baby girl.

_“I enrolled in a self-defense class just last week,” Romelle said proudly as she adjusted her bag, “I think visiting you occasionally won’t require me to need that.”_

It had been harder to convince Romelle not to call the police, but somehow Adam had managed to persuade the woman to leave the situation to them to handle. By the time nthe receptionist had been walked down to her cab and night had fallen, neither Adam or Shiro wanted to bother trying to clean up the apartment. Their rooms were a mess with Adam’s being the one least terrorized and Matt’s having only suffered minimal damage, but Shiro felt more comfortable sleeping on the couch next to Katie’s baby basket. With a baseball bat in his hand. Just to be on the safe side.

“The champ,” Shiro read to Katie as she tried to grab at the pages of the sports magazine, “Pulled away with a bloody nose, and both eyes turning black.”

“What the hell are you reading her?” Adam demanded, a glass of water in hand as he passed by on the way to his room.

“It doesn’t matter what I read her,” Shiro said in a soft almost cutesy voice, “It’s all in the tone you use.”

“Yeah sure,” Adam mumbled, “That sounds familiar.”

There was a moment where Shiro read more of the fight, Katie’s eyes wide with amazement as if she could understand every word she was hearing while Adam stood by, his eyes locked onto the girl’s small form.

“Adam?” Shiro asked, pacing Katie in her basket and tucking her blanket around her, “What’s up?”

or a moment it looked like Adam was about to shrug off whatever had been bothering him, but instead he sat down next to Shiro and said, “That was scary. Katie, the guys trying to find the–”

“I know,” Shiro said assertively, not wanting Adam to begin down a rabbit hole of negativity, “I know. We’re gonna be okay.”

Making a noncommital sound Adam locked eyes with Shiro, an expression of fear and sadness taking over his face as he asked, “Were you worried about losing her too?”

“Yes,” Shiro said without hesitation, turning to look at Katie as she gnawed on her fist, “I was. But there’s no point in worrying about it now. We need to rest and figure out what to do tomorrow.”

“Right,” Adam said, standing up and stretching his neck, “I’m gonna keep my door open, okay?”

“Alright,” Shiro said, lying down next to the basket.

While Adam padded off to his room, Shiro held up the small green lion plushie he had bought and squeezed it a bit, pleased to hear it make a soft squeaking sound. Placing it in the basket near Katie’s hands Shiro smiled softly and let himself fall into a relaxed position as the darkness around him took over and made him sleepy.

He didn’t know if it had been hours or minutes since he had fallen asleep next to Katie, bit it was still dark when Shiro woke up to the sounds of someone stumbling through the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go the first of many CLIFFHANGERS *dramatic music* I hope you guys liked this chapter! I had fun writing some domestic Shiro and Adam, and yes Romelle will still be in this but she needs a little break from the home invasion. I'm seriously tempted to start a writing instagram for little things I think of, but you guys let me know if you'd be interested! Stay amazing!
> 
> 7/20/2019


	5. Daddy's Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Adam get a break, Katie has a visit from her grandmother, and Matt is suffering.

Shiro swallowed hard as a sudden chill entered the air. The intruder stumbled over a few things, making Shiro feel better about not cleaning up, but he kept a close eye on the dark figure as he moved through the apartment. Glancing down to Katie, Shiro could hear the soft puffs of breath she made while she slept soundly, unaware of what was going on around her.

Grabbing the baseball bat, Shiro carefully stepped around the mess in the apartment and followed the intruder through the video room and tried to think about what this man was looking for. Any places the heroin could’ve been hidden had been ransacked during the earlier break-in, which made Shiro even more suspicious about this specific man.

Tensing up as the figure tripped into Matt’s room, Shiro felt panic rise in his throat. Adam’s room was right next to where they were and Shiro felt strangely protective of his sleeping friend. Carefully placing his bat on the floor, Shiro reached for the basketball that had rolled into the hallway and turned it carefully in his hands. Waiting for the figure to stand up properly, Shiro lifted the ball and hurled it at the man and felt a rush of pride go over him at the sound of the ball hitting the stranger’s head.

And then Shiro was moving without even thinking about it. Tackling the intruder to the ground Shiro struggled to pin the man down, both of them fighting against each other and trying to stay in control.

“What’re–” the man grunted as he grabbed Shiro’s wrists,” Shiro it’s me Matt!”

“Matt?” Shiro asked, pausing in his assault on his roommate only for the lights to be turned on. Blinking at the sudden brightness, Shiro demanded, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Matt?”

Turning around to see Adam standing in the doorway, his robe hanging loosely from his shoulders while he stared at his other roommate.

“You son of a bitch!”

Without warning Adam had pinned Matt to the ground for the second time and had his hands around the actor’s neck, beginning to shake him against the ground. Despite the growing rage at his roommate’s sudden appearance, Shiro stepped in and tried to pull Adam off Matt, their shouting filling the room and bouncing off the walls.

“Adam stop!” Shiro yelled above the commotion, “Murder is not the solution!”

“It is this time!” Adam snarled back at the same time Matt shook his head and shouted in agreement with Shiro.

Finally pulling Adam off Matt, Shiro fell back onto the floor with his fellow surrogate father landing on top of him.

“What the hell is your problem?” Matt demanded as he stood up and dusted himself off.

“Our problem?” Adam demanded, “What’s your problem?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Shiro asked, keeping a firm hand on Adam’s arm.

A flash of outrage crossed Matt’s usually peaceful face before he said sharply, “My part got cut. Okay? What even happened here?”

Watching as Matt gestured around the disastrous room, Shiro and Adam both tensed up as a familiar shriek pierced the air.

Simultaneously, Adam and Shiro pushed themselves off the floor and groaned, “Aw shit!”

“What the hell was that?” Matt asked as Katies crying continued, “Shiro I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”

“Gladly,” Adam said, pulling Matt from the room while Shiro quickly went to the baby.

Turning on the lights to the living area, Shiro said in a tired but dramatic voice, “The Sunday after the party this basket arrived with this _baby_ in it, lying in the vestibule with a note from an Allura. The note says that the baby is yours and she’s leaving it here for you to take care of it.”

“W–wait,” Matt said, backing away as Shiro walked towards him with Katie in his arms, “That’s not–not my–that’s impossible–”

“That same day,” Shiro continued, noticing the way Adam seemed to corral Matt towards the baby, “Another package arrived only this package has heroin in it and now the guys who want it are after us and the narcotics squad is permanently camped downstairs.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Matt said while he stumbled away from Shiro, “I just thought I was doing a favor for Rolo. I certainly don’t know anything about that baby.”

“Well she’s yours,” Shiro said, holding the child out only for Matt to make a look of disgust.

“No,” Matt said, as he stomped into his room before turning around and gesturing to Katie, “The kid looks nothing like me. I’m taller and–and I have more hair.”

The small coo of confusion from Katie summed up pretty much all of Shiro’s thoughts.

“Dear Matt,” Adam began to read, the note from Allura held in his hand, “This is our baby Katie. I’m sorry to do this, I don’t have anywhere else to turn–”

Cutting Adam off by snatching the paper from him Matt skimmed the note, his mouth moving to the words as he took in the information before stopping.

Face blanching, Matt looked up from the paper and said in a hoarse voice, “A year–a year and a half ago. I was doing Taming of the Shrew, she was the shrew! I did some of my best work in that.”

“Matt,” Adam said with a look of disbelief crossing his darker features, “You’re so selfish, you only ever think of yourself, I think I wanna kill you.”

“Don’t worry Adam,” Shiro said with a smirk as an idea formed in his mind, “We won’t have to.”

Sharing a look with his friend, Shiro nodded to Katie at the same time Adam caught on and broke into a grin.

Turning to Matt and holding Katie out to be taken Shiro said, “Matt, meet your daughter. Katie.”

“We call her Pidge,” Adam supplied, throwing an arm over Shiro’s shoulder, “She likes birds.”

Hands visibly shaking Matt took Katie and held her away from him like she was a disease carrier before saying, “Hold on, wait a minute guys, you have no idea this baby is mine.”

“We’ve put our lives on hold taking care of this baby Matt,” Shiro said with power surging through him, “Now it’s your turn.”

Looking down at Katie and how she began to wave her arms around, Matt nodded and carefully brought her closer to his chest.

Doing an average job of supporting Katie, Matt nodded and said, “Okay. I can do this, I can play a father. I mean, you guys did it so how hard can it be?”

“G’night Matt,” Shiro said, letting Adam lead him out of the room.

“Goodnight,” Matt said as he placed Katie down on his bed.

A total of four seconds passed before Katie burst into tears.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Matt said as he held a hand over the girl, looking at his roommates desperately, “What does that mean?”

Not missing a beat, Adam and Shiro said, “G’night Matt.”

* * *

It was well past midnight and even though Matt was taking care of Katie it was impossible for Shiro or Adam to sleep. The two had chosen to start up a game of pool, pleased that they could see Matt’s open door from the billiard room and keep an eye on their girl.

“WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN FEEDING HER?” Matt yelled from his room, moving into the line of sight before shaking his head and pleading, “No, no, not on the silk sheets!”

Listening to Matt’s sounds of distress, Shiro and Adam shared knowing looks while they played their game, sometimes snickering and hiding smiles when something particularly humourous reached their ears.

“Maybe I should show him how to put on the diaper,” Shiro smirked, knocking a ball into the pocket, taking his time in standing up only for Adam to come up behind him and breathe a soft laugh.

While he leaned over to take his shot, Adam hummed thoughtfully before saying, “Not yet. Make him suffer.”

“Fine by me,” Shiro said, savoring the way Matt was almost crying alongside Katie.

* * *

It had been a week and Matt was sure he was going to die.

He knew nothing about kids and he didn’t even like kids, but somehow he ended up saddled with his supposed child, his best friends mad at him, and the mother of the kid disappeared into thin air. He was definitely pissed that a kid had been dropped off, but Matt couldn’t be too mad at his roommates for not trying to help him out unless Katie was in trouble. It just didn’t seem fair that after his part in what was going to be a major movie was cut, Matt had been thrown under the bus by his friends and been dubbed the full-time dad he never wanted to be.

It had taken a lot of whining on Matt’s part, and even more sniffles and demanding to be held on Katie’s part, but finally Shiro and Adam were cutting him some slack and helped show him the basics instead of making him fend for himself. Adam had shown him how to prepare the girl’s bottle, snacks, highchair, and clothes but did most of his instructing verbally while Matt had to try and follow along with Katie screaming or cooing the entire time. Shiro on the other hand, had been more personable with his method of teaching Matt how to change diapers, give Katie baths, and the rest of the basic up keeping by showing Matt once and then making him try it.

The only thing Matt couldn’t figure out was how to hold Katie.

For some reason Katie was picky about how she was held and would cry or sniffle if she didn’t like it, resulting in Matt panicking and one of the other two men swooping in to fix it. Half the time Adam held her against his chest with his arm under her rear and the other half he had her sitting on his forearm using his chest as a backrest. Shiro had no trouble alternating between holding Katie in a variety of different ways so she would stop crying. It was like the two were psychic or experts on kids compared to Matt and it amazed him to no end how they seemed to know what Katie wanted, especially on how she liked being held.

Matt preferred to hold Katie in what he called, “the quarterback hold.”

Shiro hadn’t said anything about it, but Adam had confiscated Katie from Matt anytime he had seen her being held like that. Matt didn’t see the problem with holding Katie under his arm like a football as long as he kept track of her and didn’t actually treat her like the ball. Even Katie seemed to like it and cooed more than usual when she was lightly bounced in that position.

Matt also had to admit he thought the little sounds Katie made were pretty cute. He’d never say that out loud to either of his roommates, but Matt did have to admit that when she wasn’t screaming, crying, puking, blowing out her diaper, or causing a ruckus, Katie was pretty adorable. That was maybe nine percent of the time.

Something in Matt made him wish his father’s instinct would kick in, if he even had one, and help him figure out what to do without consulting Adam and Shiro about how warm her bottle had to be or if her bath was too cold. But he did not want to be a father. Not a chance. Matt had auditions for the theater coming up which he had to rehearse for, women to date, women to make out with, men to date, men to make out with, and now a baby to take care of.

“Listen kid,” Matt said as he held Katie in front of him, “I have a career. Do you know what that is?”

Drool dripped down Katie’s chin while she stared blankly at Matt.

“I’m your dad,” Matt sighed, his eyes locking onto Katie’s similarly colored ones, “Do you understand that?”

Still no real response from the baby.

“Okay,” Matt said as he shifted Katie so she was against his chest, “I’m a busy man and you’re a lazy baby. I have to prepare for auditions. You get to eat sleep and shit all day. I get to clean up after you and nobody cleans up after me because you’re here. Understand?”

Reaching out Katie grabbed onto a lock of Matt’s hair and pulled on it, a toothless smile growing on her face.

Grumbling at Katie’s action, Matt muttered, “I hate kids.”

* * *

Shiro didn’t exactly trust Matt to look after Katie most of the time, but he figured it was the only way to get the actor to understand what he and Adam went through. It was nice getting to see Katie torment the new meat, and it felt good to give Matt instructions and feel like Shiro knew more about taking care of babies. Of course, along with Matt’s arrival had come all the questions about the legality of keeping Katie. Neither Adam or Shiro knew how to take care of that, and Matt didn’t seem eager on getting custody of Katie anytime soon, so the issue had been dropped almost as soon as it was brought up.

Maybe a day or two after they had gotten used to Matt trying to take care of Katie on his own, Shiro had gone out and bought a small camera. Adam had nagged him about wasting money when he had perfectly good cameras he used for his film hobby, but Shiro insisted that this was a good investment.

“Besides,” Shiro said as he prepared to get a shot of Katie in her high chair, “Your cameras are all for videos. I want prints.”

“Whatever,” Adam snorted, arranging a few snacks for Katie on her tray, “Just don’t come crying to me about not having any good pictures.”

Grinning as the shutter sounded and the image was captured, Shiro stood up and asked with a smile, “Can I get one with you next to her?”

“Sure,” Adam said, scooting his chair closer to Katie and leaning down so their faces were next to each other, “What do you think about Matt watching her in a couple weeks?”

“Sounds good,” Shiro said while he focused, “Smile! Pidge!”

Obediently, Katie looked at Shiro upon hearing her nickname and broke into a baby smile. It was like Katie caused a chain reaction with that one simple action that prompted Adam to smile without any prodding from Shiro.

Nodding in approval that he got the photo, Shiro asked, “Why? Is something happening?”

“Kind of,” Adam said while he began to adjust Katie’s bib, “I–well Romelle actually–got tickets to a theater production and can’t make it so she offered them to me. I was wondering if you and Veronica wanted to come along.”

Shiro’s mouth felt dry at the mention of the woman he had stopped communicating with. It had been too long since Shiro had talked to Veronica about taking care of Katie for him, and he still hadn’t thought of a proper way to apologize to her and make it up. Veronica hadn’t gone out of her way to see Shiro either, her strong nature and stubbornness making it obvious she wasn’t going to be the first one to back down.

“If you two are interested,” Adam continued, his attention on Katie, “I know you two are taking a break but it was just a thought.”

“No, it’s okay,” Shiro said, trying to hide his discomfort, “I just need to talk to Ron and see if she’s up for it.”

Turning his attention away from Katie, Adam locked eyes with Shiro and asked, “You still haven’t spoken, have you?”

It was like Shiro was paralyzed looking at Adam’s brown eyes, unable to think of a coherent answer or respond properly.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Adam said seriously, “Takashi, I know I’m not the best person to take relationship advice from, but you need to talk to her if this is going to continue.”

Adam really wasn’t the best person to take relationship advice from. The artist had held down maybe three girlfriends in all the time Shiro had known him and didn’t do too well whenever he was set up on dates. However there was a strong truth to what Adam was saying, even if Shiro didn’t like it and didn’t want to hear it.

“Right,” Shiro breathed before holding the camera out, “Get one of me and the gremlin?”

“Do not call her a gremlin.”

“Matt doesn’t mind,” Shiro snickered as he posed with Katie, the girl trying to shove some of her snacks into the man’s mouth.

“Well I do,” Adam said, taking a position and motioning Shiro closer to Katie, “Hold still.”

Following Adam’s instructions, Shiro lost whatever he was thinking about as Katie messily pressed her food covered mouth against his cheek in a sloppy kiss. At the same time, the flash on the camera went off and the image was captured, leaving Shiro slightly stunned that Katie understood what a kiss was and amazed at how musical Adam’s laugh was. Shiro hadn’t paid too much attention to his friends’ quirks before now, but it was definitely something to see Adam giggling on the kitchen table while Katie let out a shrill scream of approval and smacked her tray table.

* * *

“Allura Altea,” Matt said into the phone while he bounced Katie, “…nothing? Okay, thanks for your help.”

Hanging up the phone Matt sighed and looked at the mess of papers on the kitchen table. It had taken a few days for Matt to get everything he could on Allura and he still hadn’t been able to track her down. Shiro and Adam hadn’t bothered to help look for the mother and had even gone so far as to say they thought Matt needed the responsibility of having a kid to make him realize the consequences of his actions.

With Shiro and Adam both at work and out of the apartment for the day, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for Matt to look for Katie’s mother. Matt remembered Allura from The Taming of the Shrew, how she was able to mold herself into the character perfectly and deliver her lines with the ability to make the audience feel something, and how she was kind to him when others had been rude and disrespectful. She had worked with Matt outside of rehearsals to help him get ahead, and that had spurred him into asking her out to dinner and then it turned into something more if only for a few nights.

Something that turned into Katie.

Glancing down at his daughter, Matt felt something in his chest clench a bit at the thought of getting rid of her. He didn’t like kids and above all Matt refused to admit that Katie was growing on him. Maybe Shiro and Adam didn’t mind being parents but Matt wasn’t ready for that and the sooner he could get rid of Katie the better.

“Well we can’t get a hold of your mommy,” Matt said with a frown, “Maybe we should call mine.”

Taking a moment to dial the familiar number, Matt adjusted his quarterback hold on Katie so she was in a safer position. It was strange seeing Shiro jump to take care of and protect Katie but seeing Adam do the same thing was surreal to Matt. Adam was the most closed-off of the three of them and didn’t share much through his expressions, so seeing him relax and become open when he was with Katie made Matt wonder just exactly what this baby was capable of.

“Mom?” Matt asked as his call was answered.

* * *

“Well?” Colleen asked as Matt opened the door, “Where is she?”

“Oh mom,” Matt said, laying on as much charm as he could, “You’re going to love her, she looks just like you.”

Taking Colleen by the hand to guide her through the still chaotic apartment, Matt led the way to his room. The apartment had taken more time to clean up than anyone had thought, especially now that Shiro was renovating the spare room into a nursery and wanted to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. It was a work in progress, and Adam had begun to draw and paint little flowers and birds on the walls like he had in the vestibule, meaning Katie still had to sleep with one of the men, but it was coming along nicely.

Stopping in front of the bed, Matt watched as his mother gasped softly at the sight of Katie kicking her feet from where she had been placed between two pillows. Matt had thought this through thoroughly. His mom loved kids despite only being able to have one herself, and since he dressed Katie in the little green jumper that matched her lion, Matt was almost positive Colleen would go through with what he wanted.

“She’s beautiful,” Colleen breathed, picking Katie up in one smooth motion.

“Mom you pick her up like a pro,” Matt praised, truly impressed by his mother’s skilled hand, “She looks just like you.”

“I pick her up like a grandmother,” Colleen said lovingly, her attention never leaving Katie, “What’s her name?”

“Katie,” Matt said with a smile, wondering how he never noticed how tired his mom looked, “We call her Pidge because she likes the pigeons in the park.”

“Katie,” Colleen repeated, the wrinkles near her eyes deepening as she smiled, “What a wonderful name. I assume her mother chose it?”

“Yeah,” Matt nodded, his gaze fixed on the two women.

It was his mom holding his child. Colleen had held him like that so many times. She had been the new parent with no idea what to do, she had watched her son grow up and leave, and now she was holding Matt’s daughter with the same love and admiration she had shown in all the baby pictures he had seen of Colleen holding him.

It was like looking into the past and the present at the same time and it had shaken Matt and made him forget his main prerogative for having Colleen over. 

“Mom,” Matt said, realizing he had zoned out, “You do this so well, I don’t know how you do it.”

“Cut the crap Matthew,” Colleen said as she stroked Katie’s wispy baby hair, “What do you want?”

Swallowing his nerves, Matt said, “Mom, I can’t take care of her. I was wondering if you’d take her for a while.”

“For how long?” Colleen asked, the words giving Matt some kind of hope.

Breathing a laugh Matt rubbed the back of his neck and said, “I dunno, until she graduates college? Look, mom, between me, Adam, and Shiro we don’t know anything about kids.”

“This must be so hard for you,” Colleen said sympathetically, bringing Katie up to eye level, “Having careers, a baby, and not knowing anything.”

“Yeah,” Matt said, a wave of relief washing over him as he sensed his mother’s typical way of giving into something, “It is.”

Tearing her eyes away from Katie to look at her son, Colleen’s smile stayed firmly in place as she said, “Then I’m going to do the best thing possible for you. Absolutely nothing.”

There was a beat of silence before Matt comprehended what his mother said.

“Mom,” Matt began only to be cut off by Colleen clicking her tongue in a disappointed fashion.

“Matthew honey, you’ve been running from responsibility all your life. Now is your time to turn and face it.”

Not caring if a sour expression took over his face, Matt looked at Katie and how she was playfully tugging on Colleen’s necklace.

Letting out a sigh of defeat, Matt looked at his mother and said, “Mom. I’m a screwup.”

Smiling softly at Matt, Colleen stood up with Katie in her arms and said, “Hopefully this little girl will teach you how to be a better man. Besides, you have your friends to help you, don’t you?”

“I guess,” Matt mumbled as he followed his mother from his room to the front entry.

“Your father,” Colleen began in a cutesy voice while she looked at Katie, “He was a screwup, and he turned out just fine.”

“Really?” Matt asked as his mind flashed back to how his father once survived a week on nothing but canned peas.

“Really,” Colleen said, handing Katie back to Matt, “Now clean up this apartment. If not for you, then for my granddaughter.”

“Got it mom.”

“And call me when I can come over again,” Colleen said with a smile, “She’s lovely Matt. I’m so proud of you. Take care of her.”

* * *

“No babysitters,” Adam instructed while Matt took notes, “We can’t risk anyone getting hurt until this drug thing is solved.”

Nobody could tell when they agreed to sit down and come up with some rules for taking care of Katie, but Adam was positive that this was working. He and Shiro had developed most of this when they were still struggling to put a diaper on the right way, all Matt had to do was memorize it like a script and go with it.

“Romelle stops by every Thursday around four to say hi to Katie,” Shiro said at the same time he waved Katie’s lion plush in front of her, “No daycares either.”

Looking up from the notes he was taking Matt asked, “What about parks? Walks, shopping, and going places? Am I on house arrest?”

Shrugging Adam said, “If you go out she has to be in her stroller. Keep an eye on her all the time.”

“And,” Shiro said as he looked up from the made-up game he was playing with Katie, “If you bring anyone over and I mean anyone, I’ll personally have your ass.”

Snorting at the comment Matt shrugged and said, “Yeah sure, like you and Veronica don’t hang out here all the time.”

Adam stayed quiet at the mention of Shiro’s partner and pretended not to notice how the atmosphere changed slightly. Shiro hadn’t spoken about what exactly happened with Veronica or how long the silence between them was going to last. It bothered Adam to see his friend this upset when Veronica was mentioned and he knew Shiro had planned on saying something to her about it, he just wasn’t sure how soon that would be and if he needed some kind of push.

“It doesn’t matter,” Shiro said, handing Katie to Adam, “And don’t forget, the heroin is–”

“In the most godforsaken place ever,” Matt supplied, his attention going briefly to Katie before he met Adam’s eyes, “Right?”

Shrugging, Adam bounced Katie on his knee before saying, “I guess you could call it that.”

The diaper pail. On his life, Adam swore nobody would look there for a trace of drugs without risking permanent loss of smell and at least an hour of headaches.

“Why no daycares?” Matt asked before crossing his arms defensively, “I have to prepare for auditions. You guys can’t make me watch her all the time and expect me to find time for work in the middle of all that.”

“We can’t risk sending her somewhere yet,” Adam said quickly, “Not with those guys who ransacked the apartment still out there.”

“They said they’d come for her next,” Shiro said softly, reminding Adam of the note left behind, “She stays with one of us at all times.”

“Fine,” Matt said as he jotted down another note, “One of her three bodyguards gets to stay with and tend to her every need.”

Smirking at how Matt referred to himself as a bodyguard, Adam shook his head and tried to think of what was going to happen next. He still had the tickets to the theater and one of his loose acquaintances agreed to go with him, but Adam really wanted Shiro to come along. To clear his head from everything that happened. Nothing more, just to spend some time with his friend and a couple others.

Of course the weirdly incredulous look Katie was giving him made Adam wonder if the little girl knew he wanted to take Shiro and a couple others out for an evening. It was entertaining how perceptive Katie was despite being a baby, but Adam was going to make that work to his advantage.

If he got his way, “Adam” would be Katie’s first word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who thought the intruder was Matt, you were right! Get yourself an internet cupcake! The next part is a fun one I'm looking forward to writing, I just have to actually write it, but I'm excited and happy with this! Hope you guys liked this update!
> 
> 8/4/2019

**Author's Note:**

> I love the movie Three Men and a Baby and I thought this was a cute idea so here we are! My [Tumblr](https://sleepyssnail.tumblr.com/) is here in case anyone wants to come scream at me, and I hope you'll enjoy!


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